Florida Marlins hoping Matt Dominguez blossoms in spring competition

By their own accounting, the Marlins had a busy Day Two of the Winter Meetings. They spoke with free agents about backup spots and they signed seven minor-league free agents.

One of of those spring training invitees is infielder Ruben Gotay, who has played for the Royals, Mets and Braves. Gotay can play second or third base, meaning he will give the Marlins another option this spring if top prospect Matt Dominguez doesn’t win the third base job.

“We have some different scenarios we can play with. I think everybody in this room is pretty confident that Matt’s going to be our third baseman in the near future, if not the upcoming season,” baseball operations president Larry Beinfest said late this afternoon.
“He’s going to have to show us that he’s ready to handle the major leagues. He has made great strides offensively in Double-A. He has never played above Double A. We think he is ready to go, Major Leagues, defensively and will be well above-average.

“It’s not a matter of ‘if.’ It’s probably a matter of ‘when,’ but we have contingencies there — and we think good ones — if Matt isn’t ready to go next April.”

Aside from Gotay, infield options for second and third base include Emilio Bonifacio and Wes Helms.

“We would like to have as much competition as possible,” Beinfest said. “It brings out the best in players. We saw that kind of this spring with Logan (Morrison) and Gaby (Sanchez) at first base and I think it helped both of them.”

Baker off the bench?
Also today, Beinfest repeated that cather John Baker is an option to open the season as the team’s left-handed bat off the bench, even if his arm isn’t ready for defensive duties.

“He has a medical issue that we’re going to have to wait on and see how his health is in spring training, but it is an idea we have kicked around of having him be a left-handed bat off the bench because he can hit.

“Now does that mean we’re not going to shop or look at other ideas? That’s not the case…

“When you have Tommy John surgery and you miss a whole year, you can become a forgotten guy. He has not become a forgotten guy here. We think he is a really good hitter. He’s just another option for us.”

Sanabia in the ‘pen?
The arrival of Javier Vazquez means RHP Alex Sanabia is likely theodd man out of the bullpen. But the Marlins think so highly of Sanabia that they weren’t ready to say publicly — at least not today — he won’t be on the team next year.

“Alex is going to come to spring training and compete for a job in the rotation. And if he fits elsewhere on the ballclub, fine. And if he doesn’t, if he has to go to Triple-A, then that’s the way it goes for a lot of players in camp,” Beinfest said.

“Right now, at least on paper, it doesn’t look like a rotation spot is something that is attainable, but that doesn’t mean he’s not going to be important to us in 2011.’

Sanabia is part of what Beinfest called the Marlins’ “next wave” of starting pitchers, a group that includes Sean West, Elih Villanueva (Florida’s 2010 Minor League Pitcher of the Year), Tom Koehler and Brad Hand.